Fleet Assist has debuted a new standalone service for organisations requiring their network of independent garages to be audited externally.

The service provides a “forensic overview” of individual garages based on their capabilities, facilities and services offered

It’s called Service Quality Assurance (SQA) and draws on the firm’s 20 years of heritage in the SMR sector to provide a “forensic overview” of individual garages based on their capabilities, facilities and services offered.

The audit includes everything from premises and skills assessment to MOT capabilities and offers two levels of service. These include desk-based audits where the garage is validated against a detailed check list or physical checks where a Fleet Assist team member visits each garage in person.

Zenith has appointed Fleet Assist to audit its garages to ascertain the range of services on offer, standard of premises, location and workforce. This includes evaluations of whether the garage is BEV ready and to what degree, if they can provide Class 4 and or Class 7 MOTs and can physically accommodate large high roof long wheelbase vans as Zenith runs a large fleet of LCVs.

Zenith is accelerating its transition to EV, so understanding whether a dealer is ‘EV ready’ to include trained technicians and modified premises is also another key factor in adding a garage to its SMR network.

“Running an efficient garage network that meets our clients’ SMR needs is vital for the smooth running of our business. We look forward to utilising Fleet Assist’s vast experience in the SMR and garage network sectors,” explained Dave Tanner, head of operations at Zenith.

Fleet Assist also said it’s seen significant interest from other companies in the fleet and automotive sector.

Karen Ewer, Fleet Assist’s head of business development said: “Several organisations have approached us to provide independent assistance in auditing their garage network. We believe this further endorses an area where we have considerable expertise as the UK’s largest and most experienced SMR network supply chain management company.”